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Furry Mechanics, DIYers, Geeks, Inventors - Resources Inside
14 years ago
I figured it would be worthwhile throwing this information up here, considering the bewildering number of furries I meet here and on Twitter that share similar automotive, electronics, and DIY interests with me. These are the some of the places I feel are great sources for all-manner of shit when starting on the next-big-project™ or expanding your shop.
Surplus Stuff
HGR Industrial Surplus- Used machinery Mecca. HGR is located in Cleveland, OH, and every self-respecting DIYer should attempt to journey up there at least once in their lifetime. Inside their warehouse you'll wander through 12 Acres of machining centers, tooling, robots, motors, gears, valves, test equipment, welding machines.. you name it. They are a high volume surplus store.. they scrap daily and rotate stock every 3 months on average, so it's like stepping into a new store every time you go. The last time we were up there we bought a lathe and a couple threading machines and they threw in an old Bridgeport vertical mill for free. Thank you HGR.. you found the way to my heart.
Surplus Center- I've only used them once or twice for some pneumatic cylinders. They occasionally have interesting things like entire golfkart transaxles that I'm still trying to convince myself I can use.
Mendelson's Liquidation Outlet- Huge inventory, but usually wildly overpriced. Mendelson's used to be a great resource for everything from transistors to endmills to popcorn machines.. now they're just an interesting stopover on your way to the Dayton Hamvention. Peruse the warehouse and revel in floor after floor of gilded junk you can't afford. Don't die on the cargo elevator.
American Science and Surplus- The pun-masters. Quirky company mostly specializing in small, inexpensive items. Toys, motors, labware, optics, magnets and other miscellany. I haven't had the opportunity to visit one of their retail outlets yet.
Debco Electronics- Local electronics surplus store, though they do mail-order and Ebay as well. Great source for inexpensive connectors and other odds-and-ends.
Metal
Garden Street Recycling- Scrap yard with locations in Ohio and Florida. At the Cincinnati location, at least, they pre-sort incoming metal and will sell back to you at a modest markup. I buy lots of aluminum scrap for $1.25/lb currently. Mostly fresh ingots of 6061 from large fab shops that scrap all their drops. You can save thousands here, no joke.
Metal Supermarkets- Invaluable resource for small metal orders, especially oddball stuff like titanium, inconel, or other uncommon alloys. They're moderately expensive, but if you only need a small amount of something it's usually a lot cheaper than buying a full length of material from somewhere else.
Tooling, parts, and everything else
McMaster-Carr- McMaster is like Digikey for Mechanical Engineers. Not familiar with either? I'll start with McMaster: if you need a part that might possibly have a place in an industrial environment, they probably have it. Tools, hoses, metals, fittings, nuts, bolts, chemicals, motors, bearings, filters, valves, gaskets.. whatever, they'll have it. They also have the most indisputably easy-to-use website in the business. The only gripe I have with McMaster is that shipping is not calculated until after you have placed an order - usually not a big deal, but watch out if you're ordering anything that might possibly have to ship Hazmat. Also, the manufacturer of the part you are ordering is not usually given, but rest-assured it will always be top-quality part. If you order a hydraulic fitting, it will probably be Swagelok. A pair of wire cutters will probably be Klein. I have never received junk from McMaster-Carr.
Enco- McMaster's little brother. Enco also sells some Chinese tooling and machinery as well, for more budget-minded DIYers.
Little Machine Shop- All kinds of replacement parts and add-ons for benchtop lathes and mills. They also sell some of their own branded machinery as well, including a nice turn-key CNC mill. Great source for inexpensive tooling.
DigiKey- The ubiquitous electronic component supplier. I have never had a wrong order from Digikey, and I buy a lot of stuff from them.
Mouser Electronics- If DigiKey is out of stock, Mouser may have it. I use Amphenol Mini-Fit, Jr. connectors on a lot of personal projects and DigiKey runs out occasionally. Mouser is a great back-up.
CNC and Automation
Automation Direct- Stepper Motors, Variable Frequency Drives, Power Supplies, HIDs, et. cetera. Lots of good stuff here.
Keling Inc.- Great source for some HUGE stepper motors. I have used a few of their 2830 oz-in NEMA beasts in some applications that are literally moving tons of material on a daily basis.
Triangle Research- Very low-cost programmable logic controllers (PLCs). I've used a few in industrial applications now with great results. They're very robust little units at a fraction of the cost of more popular PLCs.
Molding/Casting
Smooth-On- I've used a great deal of urethane plastic and urethane rubber compounds from Smooth-on. They have quite a few excellent tutorials on the proper use of many of their products. They've been an excellent company to deal with so far.
That should be a good start. If you've got any more resources to suggest please do! But now.. bedtime..
Surplus Stuff
HGR Industrial Surplus- Used machinery Mecca. HGR is located in Cleveland, OH, and every self-respecting DIYer should attempt to journey up there at least once in their lifetime. Inside their warehouse you'll wander through 12 Acres of machining centers, tooling, robots, motors, gears, valves, test equipment, welding machines.. you name it. They are a high volume surplus store.. they scrap daily and rotate stock every 3 months on average, so it's like stepping into a new store every time you go. The last time we were up there we bought a lathe and a couple threading machines and they threw in an old Bridgeport vertical mill for free. Thank you HGR.. you found the way to my heart.
Surplus Center- I've only used them once or twice for some pneumatic cylinders. They occasionally have interesting things like entire golfkart transaxles that I'm still trying to convince myself I can use.
Mendelson's Liquidation Outlet- Huge inventory, but usually wildly overpriced. Mendelson's used to be a great resource for everything from transistors to endmills to popcorn machines.. now they're just an interesting stopover on your way to the Dayton Hamvention. Peruse the warehouse and revel in floor after floor of gilded junk you can't afford. Don't die on the cargo elevator.
American Science and Surplus- The pun-masters. Quirky company mostly specializing in small, inexpensive items. Toys, motors, labware, optics, magnets and other miscellany. I haven't had the opportunity to visit one of their retail outlets yet.
Debco Electronics- Local electronics surplus store, though they do mail-order and Ebay as well. Great source for inexpensive connectors and other odds-and-ends.
Metal
Garden Street Recycling- Scrap yard with locations in Ohio and Florida. At the Cincinnati location, at least, they pre-sort incoming metal and will sell back to you at a modest markup. I buy lots of aluminum scrap for $1.25/lb currently. Mostly fresh ingots of 6061 from large fab shops that scrap all their drops. You can save thousands here, no joke.
Metal Supermarkets- Invaluable resource for small metal orders, especially oddball stuff like titanium, inconel, or other uncommon alloys. They're moderately expensive, but if you only need a small amount of something it's usually a lot cheaper than buying a full length of material from somewhere else.
Tooling, parts, and everything else
McMaster-Carr- McMaster is like Digikey for Mechanical Engineers. Not familiar with either? I'll start with McMaster: if you need a part that might possibly have a place in an industrial environment, they probably have it. Tools, hoses, metals, fittings, nuts, bolts, chemicals, motors, bearings, filters, valves, gaskets.. whatever, they'll have it. They also have the most indisputably easy-to-use website in the business. The only gripe I have with McMaster is that shipping is not calculated until after you have placed an order - usually not a big deal, but watch out if you're ordering anything that might possibly have to ship Hazmat. Also, the manufacturer of the part you are ordering is not usually given, but rest-assured it will always be top-quality part. If you order a hydraulic fitting, it will probably be Swagelok. A pair of wire cutters will probably be Klein. I have never received junk from McMaster-Carr.
Enco- McMaster's little brother. Enco also sells some Chinese tooling and machinery as well, for more budget-minded DIYers.
Little Machine Shop- All kinds of replacement parts and add-ons for benchtop lathes and mills. They also sell some of their own branded machinery as well, including a nice turn-key CNC mill. Great source for inexpensive tooling.
DigiKey- The ubiquitous electronic component supplier. I have never had a wrong order from Digikey, and I buy a lot of stuff from them.
Mouser Electronics- If DigiKey is out of stock, Mouser may have it. I use Amphenol Mini-Fit, Jr. connectors on a lot of personal projects and DigiKey runs out occasionally. Mouser is a great back-up.
CNC and Automation
Automation Direct- Stepper Motors, Variable Frequency Drives, Power Supplies, HIDs, et. cetera. Lots of good stuff here.
Keling Inc.- Great source for some HUGE stepper motors. I have used a few of their 2830 oz-in NEMA beasts in some applications that are literally moving tons of material on a daily basis.
Triangle Research- Very low-cost programmable logic controllers (PLCs). I've used a few in industrial applications now with great results. They're very robust little units at a fraction of the cost of more popular PLCs.
Molding/Casting
Smooth-On- I've used a great deal of urethane plastic and urethane rubber compounds from Smooth-on. They have quite a few excellent tutorials on the proper use of many of their products. They've been an excellent company to deal with so far.
That should be a good start. If you've got any more resources to suggest please do! But now.. bedtime..
It's like the Gap Outlet for men.